Still More Elections Coming Soon

We're not done with electoral politics yet. The last round of elections left a couple of positions vacant, and special elections are pending (uncalled yet, but expected in February).

When Michael McMahon was elected to Congress, he left his city council seat open, and seven candidates --
-- or is it nine? -- have declared for it. At least two candidates are people of color, which is noteworthy because, according to the Advance, Staten Island has of yet no "minority representative on any level of government." Liz Benjamin notes another fun fact -- "one of every four firefighters in the city lives in Staten Island" -- which makes the endorsement of McMahon's former aide Ken Mitchell by the United Firefighters Association and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association very useful. Also, he's white.

Meanwhile in Queens incoming state senator Joseph Addabbo's council seat has six takers so far; the Rockaway Wave says that, though the district is traditionally Republican, Eric Ulrich was the only contender from the GOP until Mike Ricatto jumped in this week.

And, if some people get their way, all New Yorkers may get a special election on term limits, too.